“Thank you, Lizzy. You…did give a good description, and…we can ride out in the phaeton some mornings…to see the sunrise if you like,” Anne smiled.
Elizabeth smiled to herself. She did not yet know when or how, but she would make sure Anne would see the view from the summit of Oakham Mount one day.
Once Anne’s pony was unhitched from the phaeton and Hector was unsaddled, the girls made sure they would be brushed down and well fed before making their way back into the manor house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Mary normally ate in the nursery with Kitty and Lydia. Much to her delight, since Anne had been in residence she had been eating in the dining parlour.
Everyone met in the drawing room before dinner. It was there the three eldest Bennet sisters were introduced to Lord Matlock and Mr. Darcy. Like Jane, Mary was awed when she was introduced to an earl. As would be expected, Lizzy treated him like anyone else she met.
“I can see what my brother told me is true, you are fearless and unintimidated, Miss Elizabeth,” Matlock smiled at the young girl.
“There are times I wish my second daughter had a healthy fear,” Fanny shook her head, “but then again, I suppose if she had hesitated the day she helped Lewis and Anne, things could have ended differently.”
“You must have a way with horses if you were able to calm the team enough to be able to unhitch them. I would assume with the coach pulling against them they would have been much perturbed,” Darcy stated.
“Thanks to my observations of John the coachman and our grooms, I learnt what they do to calm the horses when they are a little skittish,” Elizabeth explained, “that was all I did.”
“Humble too,” Matlock shook his head. “I have been told how you like to downplay your role in saving my niece and her father, not to mention the footman.”
“Because I did what any person who saw they were in need would have,” Elizabeth said simply.
“No Lizzy,” Sir Lewis disagreed. “You are only ten, yet you kept a cool head, saw what needed to be done and how to do it, and then you executed your plan. So as far as Anne and I are concerned you were the right person at the right place at the perfect time.”
Further discussion of Elizabeth’s actions was interrupted when Hill announced dinner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Catherine was furious. She had spent all of her saved funds and for what! It had been almost a week now and not a mention of a carriage accident killing her husband and daughter in any of the papers.
It was not to be borne. Her plan had been perfect so it must have been that simpleton Younge and his cousin who haderred.
All there was for it was to begin to plan again. If he was alive she would petition her husband for an increased allowance. As much as she hated having to ask him for anything, it was necessary to save money at a faster rate.
Rosings Park, his other estate in Bedfordshire, the houses in London and Bath, all of it should have been hers by now. She would not rest until she achieved her aim.
Chapter 5
Afeeling of excited anticipation shot through Lady Catherine’s body when her two brothers, and not her husband, entered the drawing room at Rosings Park.
She schooled her features not wanting to give away her feeling of glee at the impending news that her flawless plan had in fact worked as she knew it would. “Reggie and Robert, it must be something extraordinary which brings you hither from your estates. It has been some years since you have deigned to visit me, but I will forgive you…” Lady Catherine began but faltered when her brother raised his hand.
“We are not here to see you Catherine, but to fulfil a promise. Before we proceed, read this letter.” Lord Matlock extracted the letter from his inside jacket pocket and proffered it to his sister who did not look nearly as gleeful as she had when he and Darcy had entered the drawing room.
Neither man missed how her face fell when she identified the writing on the outside of the missive as belonging to her husband.
Hoping the letter was written before his demise, Lady Catherine opened it slowly and began to read.
25 June 1800
An estate in Hertfordshire
Yes Catherine, Anne and I are very much alive, as sorry as I am to disappoint you.
You will claim, and I agree with you, there exists no proof of your culpability, so unless you choose to confess, I cannot have youprosecuted for murder and attempted murder.
The only one your plan killed was Mr. Jimmy Green, my coachman. As his family has lost a husband, father, and the earner of money all by your hand, your quarterly allowance is, with immediate effect, reduced to £10 per quarter.
